[grc] covid, Milam, money, money, money

[Spencer Graves]

LEGAL LIABILITY:


	  The US Supreme Court in New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964) 
declared that a publisher like NYT or WBAI could be sued for defamation.


	  Dominion Voting Systems filed defamation lawsuits against former 
Trump campaign lawyers Sidney Powell and Rudy Giuliani, each for $1.3 
billion. Smartmatic has similarly sued Fox Corporation and its anchors 
Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, and Jeanine Pirro as well as Giuliani and 
Powell for $2.7 billion.[1]  Powell's attorney argued that, "no 
reasonable person would conclude that the statements [by Powell about 
the 2020 election] were truly statements of fact", and moreover that 
Dominion could not prove that Powell took action with "actual malice", 
because "she believed the allegations then and she believes them 
now".[2] Powell's "unreasonable" defense effectively says that anyone 
who believed that Dominion and Smartmatic illegally altered the count in 
last November's election, as apparently portrayed in many popular 
videos, are "unreasonable".  That probably includes 100 percent of the 
people who stormed the Capitol January 6 as well as probably the vast 
majority of people who will vote Republican in the next couple of years.


	  CONCLUSION:  Gary Null, WBAI, and Pacifica could similarly be sued 
for things that Null has said on the air, in the same way that Powell, 
Giuliani, Dobbs, Bartiromo, Pirro, and Fox are currently being sued. 
The pending suits may not bankrupt Fox, but they might bankrupt Powell, 
Giuliani, Dobbs, Bartiromo, and Pirro.  And crudely similar lawsuits 
might bankrupt Null, WBAI, and Pacifica.


VACCINE EFFICACY:


	  What are the anti-vaxxers saying about smallpox?  The last diagnosis 
of smallpox was issued in 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) 
officially declared its global eradication in 1980.[3]


	  Are anti-vaxxers saying that (a) smallpox never existed or (b) it 
disappeared for other reasons or (c) it still exists, and physicians, 
the WHO, and others are covering up news of more recent cases?


	  Spencer Graves


[1]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post-election_lawsuits_related_to_the_2020_United_States_presidential_election


[2]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sidney_Powell


[3]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eradication_of_infectious_diseases#Smallpox


On 4/21/21 12:13 PM, Charles Reinsch via grc wrote:
> Following this thread, and seeing Lorenzo Milam's name invoked in a 
> discussion of the use of "non-commercial" broadcast services for 
> profiteering by vendors of vitamin supplements and crackpot "science"*, 
> I feel compelled to add 2 bits.
> 
> There seems to be, in this thread, a confusion as to what exactly 
> qualifies as a "minority viewpoint", and when fulfilling your station's 
> mission requires that it be represented in your broadcast.
> 
> Lorenzo, and KRAB, were cautious when approached by  suspiciously 
> generous people offering to lift us out of poverty by using our facility 
> to promote their pet project.  They were thanked for their concern, and 
> shown the door.  If you listen to Lorenzo's speech at the 1976 Telluride 
> conference, you will hear him repeat, more than once, that he hoped the 
> conversation would get away from money.
> 
>  From the early days Lorenzo liked an open-ended panel discussion format 
> for creating an environment where ideas could be challenged.  It was 
> when, in these "forums", the participants reached some level of common 
> understanding that they achieved a bit of what Hill (and Milam) dreamed 
> a studio, a microphone, and a transmitter could do.
> 
> *Years ago I was shocked when I heard Null's "infomercials" on WBAI. 
> Later, the shock was doubled when I heard his promotional appeals on 
> KPFK.  As a result I stopped listening to both.
> 
> chuck
>